Joe Lombardi
| Place of birth = USA | Date of death = | Place of death = London, United Kingdom, European Union | Roles = Special Effects Artist | image2 = Joe Lombardi working on the electronics of the original USS Enterprise bridge set.jpg | imagecap2 = ...(top) with his employer Desilu owner Lucille Ball ®, and (bottom) wiring the electronics of the original bridge set in 1964. }} Joseph "Joe" J. Lombardi was a special effects (SFX) artist who, with an interval of three decades, has worked on two Star Trek live-action productions, one credited and one uncredited. When , the very first Star Trek production, was picked up by NBC as the pilot for a new television series, tenured Desilu Studios effects staffers Joe Lombardi along with collegue Jack Briggs were assigned by their superior, Jim Paisley – the studio's production manager – , to serve the new production as such in late summer 1964. (Star Trek Memories, 1994, p. 88) Called a "genius gadgeteer and electrician and jack-of-all-trades" by Creator Executive Producer Gene Roddenberry in his 25 August memo, Lombardi was made responsible for all the on-set special effects, such as pyrotechnics and the electronics, those of the bridge set in particular. Starting in late autumn, Lombardi had his part of the sets construction completed in time for the scheduled filming, slated to start on 30 November 1964. (The Making of Star Trek, pp. 102 & 106; These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One, 1st ed, pp. 36-37, 56-58) It was Lombardi who came up with the cost-saving idea to fill up ice cube trays with colored resin which, backlit, served as the hundreds of push buttons featured all over the Enterprise sets, again the bridge in particular, as well as the turbolift lighting. https://www.metv.com/stories/joe-lombardi-desilu-fx-master-lucy-star-trek Neither Lombardi nor Briggs were assigned to Star Trek afterwards, be it for the second pilot episode or the regular series, when the series went into full production and where their position was filled by Bob Overbeck for the second pilot episode, and Jim Rugg for the regular series, respectively. Though The Cage had not been aired, Lombardi got his official credit, when the pilot was repurposed for the first season two-part episode and , credited for the latter. Thirty years later, in the summer of 1994, Lombardi in a sense came full circle when he was subcontracted for the reshoot of the finale of . Unsatisfied with the original demise of James T. Kirk at the the conclusion of the film, a newly conceived death scene was conceived after principal photography had wrapped. Lombardi was commisioned for the construction and collapse of the catwalk on which Kirk met his demise. After the shooting Lombardi approached Kirk performer William Shatner with a request to sign the study maquette Lombardi had constructed previously to determine the placement of the explosive charges on the catwalk. Shatner did not know Lombardi, as he had not been involved in The Cage, and was at first taken aback but was won over when Lombardi, known for his dry sense of humor, stated "Hey, I brought you into to the world, now I'm taking you out." https://www.metv.com/stories/joe-lombardi-desilu-fx-master-lucy-star-trek For this contribution Lombardi has remained uncredited. Career Joe Lombardi began his career in the motion picture industry in 1947, working at first for RKO and subsequently for Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz's adjacent Desilu Studios, after the former had gone out of bussiness, and where he honed his skilled as a SFX artist. https://www.zoominfo.com/p/Joe-Lombardi/-1157900600 During his tenure at Desilu he worked, credited and uncredited, on television series such as Lassie, Angel, My Favorite Martian, Ball's own I Love Lucy, and Rango. Lomabardi enjoyed a warm relationship with Ball, whom he personally flew around on wire multiple times on her show, and had been a frequent guest at the annual Desilu family Christmas parties. https://www.metv.com/stories/joe-lombardi-desilu-fx-master-lucy-star-trek After Ball had sold her comapny in July 1967, Lombardi, like many other Desilu employees, decided to leave as well and to strike out on his own as an independant contractor in the wake of the further crumbling of the still remaining remnants of the traditional " ". (See also in this regard: Desilu) A selection of SFX credits he accumulated afterwards included among many others, The Godfather (1972), The Godfather: Part II (1974), Apocalypse Now (1979), The Mosquito Coast (1986), Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988, with Karin Hanson, Richard Snell, Martin Becker, and Joe Podnar), alongside a few, rare television productions of which the 1987 Vietnam War Story '' series was one. In order to better market his skills he founded his personal Hollywood based "Full Scale Effects" company. Lombardi, along with son Paul, decided to branch out into movie production for himself and to that end set up his own company "Riverwood Studios, Inc." in 1998. Finding Hollywood too expensive a proposition he set up shop in Senoia, Coweta County, Georgia for that state's tax amenities. Originally of a mind to produce movies himself, he found out that is company from the outset became in high demand by other production companies for their productions – just as his former employer Desilu had been. Not only that, his SFX skills remained in high demand as well, causing his company to concurrently evolve into a specialized SFX company as well. (''Newnan-Coweta Magazine, May/June 2006, p. 22) Credits the company accrued included Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), The Tomorrow Man and Andersonville (both 1996) and The Initiate (1998), whereas Lombardi himself continued to earn individual SFX credits for among others Flight of the Intruder (1991) and Clear and Present Danger (1996). Lombardi continued to work throughout his life and had just completed work on the 1998 movie When Trumpets Fade, shot in Hungary, when he contracted bronchial pneumonia. On his way back to America, his condition took a turn for the worst and had to be hospitalized in a London, UK, hospital, diagnosed with a serious viral infection of the sinuses, from which he did not recover, dying aged 74. His body repatriated for burial at the San Fernando Mission Cemetery, he was survived by his wife, three children, and four grandchildren. https://variety.com/1997/scene/people-news/joe-lombardi-1117432915/ Just months before his death, Lombardi had been awarded an honorary life achievement Academy Award. His death accelerated the downward spiral the production company was in due to the severely increased competition from abroad in the mid-1990s, Canada in particular, only aggravated by the death of his wife Sheila a short time thereafter. These circumstances enticed son Paul to shut down the company for nearly two years, before Lombardi's grand-nephew Scott Tigchelaar, who had already been appointed earlier by Lombardi to alleviate the organizational workload, reinitialized it with the help of the state Georgia. (Newnan-Coweta Magazine, May/June 2006, pp. 22-23) Renamed "Raleigh Studios" shortly thereafter, it was eventually sold to AMC Studios in July 2017, producer of the hit series The Walking Dead and its equally succesfull spin-off Fear the Walking Dead on which the studio was already involved. http://raleighstudiosatlanta.com/ Lombardi's personal company "Full Scale Effects" ceased to exist upon his death. Further reading * "The Riverwood Dream"", Alex McRae, Newnan-Coweta Magazine, May/June 2006, pp. 18-25 External link * Category:Special and Visual effects staff